Vegan baking – no dairy products, no eggs, no what! Now, this has got to be a challenge. Baking for people with dietary restrictions can be tough and there is a limit to how far you can make your vegan cupcakes taste like the real deal. Moreover, things like egg replacers, vegan margarine or shortening (filled with hard-to-pronounce chemical names) sound far from appetizing. Here’s a vegan dessert that not only tastes pretty good but is also easy to make and devoid of those nasties. The tart crust was made with a combination of oat flour, chopped walnuts and olive oil to bind it all together. Layers of thinly sliced apples, cinnamon, muscovado sugar and plump raisins meld together in the heat of the oven, becoming just fork-tender to contrast with the crumbly, nutty crust.
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Vegan Apple Tart
15 Thursday Nov 2012
Posted in Bars & Slices, Fruit, Tarts, Vegan
My quick search online for ‘orange almond cake’ turned up 2,700,000 results. After comparing the recipes, I realised it was only made from 4 ingredients. Yes, four ingredients! It was pretty simple too – begin by boiling the orange, then blending it down before adding whipped eggs, sugar and ground almonds. The final result was utterly delicious, pretty darn close to the one at Dean & Deluca I must say! (Hehehe this totally sound like I’m blowing my own horn here) Their version had a glaze which helps to keep the cake moist for longer, especially when stored behind the glass display. I skipped that to keep it super simple. Looks like I’ll be making this again and again! 
Cupcake baking yet again, and this time more fruit pairings. This is really becoming somewhat of a Cupcake Chronicle. Anyway, it’s the time of the year again when these orange-hued juicy fruits, bursting with sweetness come back into season. I used hate persimmons because of their pulpy and squishy flesh but I’ve since grown to like its unique taste and best of all, it’s supposed to be really good for you! 
It was my first time baking with persimmons, so I wanted to keep it really simple to let the natural sweetness of the fruit shine. Vanilla Bean & Honey Cupcakes were filled with a persimmon puree centre and topped off with more sliced persimmons. Sugar was sparingly used and floral honey was added to barely sweeten them. For the frosting, a rosette of whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache was piped on each cupcake to temper the sweetness of the fruit. 
Biting in one, the fudgy melt-in-your-mouth frosting gives way to a light cake which surrounds a jam-like centre, infusing the cake with flavour. On hindsight, I should have added more persimmon puree to the middle (to achieve a runny oozy salted egg custard bun effect) but oh well, there’s always next time!
Another off the list! I love figs and apples, but combined together in a cupcake? Seems unusual but I was dying to test this flavour pairing out. Moist vanilla bean buttermilk cupcakes were filled with a fresh apple-fig compote, buried in the batter before baking. While the cupcakes were cooling, I got to work on the frosting – a satiny, light and not-too-sweet swiss meringue buttercream flecked with tiny specks of Madagascar vanilla and a touch of cinnamon. Apart from my absolute favourite cream cheese frosting, this sure is one of my most loved cupcake frosting of all time. It delivers a luscious and silky mouthfeel that’s most importantly, stable enough to hold up in our sweltering heat and humid weather. No doubt this takes quite abit of work to make (from the meringue to the seemingly endless process of whipping it where it turns from a soupy, curdled mess to a billowy cloud of frosting), but the efforts are always worth it. Finally, the frosted cupcakes were garnished with a little slice of dried fig and a spiced caramel drizzle.
Despite being one of the most complicated, multi-component cupcakes I’ve done so far (cupcake base, fruit compote filling, frosting and caramel drizzle), I was surprised that it didn’t take as much time as anticipated. Here you go, another original cupcake creation – the Fig & Apple. I’m super excited the share this recipe. Do try it for yourself and let me know what you think!
This post has been largely influenced by all the scrummy mango sticky rice I had during my trip to Bangkok last week! Mango pudding is such a classic dessert at Chinese restaurants. Softly-set, chilled pudding infused with the heady aroma of mangoes. A while ago, we had a little stash of Indian Alphonso Mangoes which were on the verge of over-ripening. In a bid to use them in a recipe, I decided to make Mango Panna Cotta. The traditional mango pudding recipe called for agar agar which might result in a tough, rubbery texture if not handled properly. No way was I gonna waste the delicious seasonal fruit on something that might go wrong. So I adapted the recipe by adding mango puree and coconut milk. The result? A silky, soft creamy pudding with intense mango flavour. I might have gone a little too heavy handed on the sugar, so feel free to cut back depending on the sweetness of your mangoes!
Breakfast. Hands down, my favourite meal of the day. Especially a slow, leisurely breakfast on weekends with a freshly brewed cuppa. Soft, fluffy pancake stack topped with chunks of juicy, sweet Alphonso mangoes, bananas and strawberries. Now, these are not my usual buttermilk pancakes with the addition of rye flour and oats. Seeing that there was a couple of over-ripe mangoes languishing in the fridge, I decided to make the best out of them. Sometimes, I also like to let the pancakes develop a deeper-brown hue to get that delicious smoky, caramelised flavour. 
Here’s a post about something I had made quite a long time back. If it is not apparent enough, I make an awful lot of citrus desserts. Lemons and limes are combined in this lush, creamy cheesecake over a chocolate cookie crust. Gentle baking in a bain-marie is key to a smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Finally, a citrus & honey mirror glaze, dotted with specks of vanilla, is poured over the top and garnished with a homemade candied lemon slice. 
The citrus flavours really take the spotlight here. You know how a rich and dense dessert can get cloying after a few mouthfuls? I like to temper the richness with a little acidity from citrus fruits, which instantly refreshes the palate. The honey glaze, made by bubbling fruit slices and vanilla pod over low heat, also gives it another dimension. Of course, the candied lemon is entirely optional – it was just my attempt at something new. (Oh and I always get super excited excited whenever my cheesecake comes out completely smooth, without a single crack on the surface!)
